Thousand year instrumental

More than 130,000 U.S. veterans who were released from service due to injuries sustained in combat are due substantial federal income tax refunds because of a Department of Defense error that stretched on for decades. For 25 years, between 1991 and 2016, a computer glitch at the agency caused non-taxable disability severance payments to be subject to income taxes, a Defense Department official told CBS MoneyWatch. The government is now trying to help veterans or their survivors recover these old overpayments, each of which is expected to result in refunds of $1,750 or more. For vets who may be due a refund, the compensation process is likely to be complicated given that many taxpayers not have saved decades-old tax records. However, it is well worth the effort. The National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP), a nonprofit advocacy group that originally discovered the tax mistake, estimates that some veterans are due refunds exceeding $10,000. "I would encourage veterans and … [Read more...] about Government error cost injured U.S. veterans thousands in tax refunds

Wednesday, June 13, 2018 by: Ethan Huff Tags: bitcoin, blockchain, consumption, cryptocurrency, electrical usage, electricity, energy, Joule, peer-to-peer, power grid, research, unsustainable (Natural News) New research published in the journal Joule warns that the energy consumption needed to mine and process Bitcoin could end up being far higher than anyone ever imagined before the year’s end. The latest estimates suggest that the Bitcoin network may end up sucking down half a percent of the world’s total energy output by the end of 2018, which some say could end up making it too cost-prohibitive to even use the cryptocurrency. This peer-reviewed paper is among the first to take a comprehensive look at Bitcoin’s impact on the energy grid, which researchers hope will provide a greater understanding as to how the cryptocurrency will likely evolve over time. Utilizing a new methodology designed to pinpoint precisely where Bitcoin’s energy consumption rates … [Read more...] about WASTE: Bitcoin to use half a percent of the world’s electric energy consumption by the end of this year

"TEN years is a long time to be staring out the window counting leaves on the trees." This was the reality for Newry woman Joan McParland whose life as she knew came to a halt in 1999 when she woke up one morning unable to work or get out of her bed. Joan went from being a “superfit” 42-year-old mum who enjoyed exercising and caravanning with her husband and 11-year-old son Stephen, to having to be carried from her bed to go the toilet. She was eventually diagnosed with myalgic encephalopathy (ME), also commonly know as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). ME is a condition that has greatly puzzled healthcare professionals for many years; it has even been debated as to whether it was actually an illness at all. While initially thought to be a psychological condition, and even given the nickname 'yuppie flu', understanding of the condition has improved. Indeed, the World Health Organisation now classifies it as a chronic neurological condition. What cannot be agreed, however, is … [Read more...] about Hope for ME: Co Down woman’s campaign for the thousands living with chronic fatigue syndrome

As if New Orleans needed to give visitors another reason to party, the city celebrates its 300th birthday this year. That means non-stop tricentennial events, parades, exhibits and more on top of the Big Easy’s already packed calendar. America’s most unique city draws tourists for its culture, food, cocktails and festivals — and keeps them coming back by embracing its rich history while continuing to evolve. Perhaps no Nola neighborhood is changing more than Bywater, home to pretty pastel-painted Creole cottages and a thriving arts scene. It’s known for quirky spots like The Country Club (634 Louisa St., thecountryclubneworleans.com), a pool clubhouse and restaurant famous for its Saturday “Drag Brunch.” Bywater started exploding in the years after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, when the floodwaters that devastated other parts of New Orleans did not reach the slightly elevated nabe. Locals have mixed … [Read more...] about New Orleans turns 300 and you’re invited to the year-long party

Ilse Weber, a Jewish poet, was imprisoned at the concentration camp at Terezin in German-occupied Czechoslovakia when she wrote a song called "When I Was Lying Down in Terezin's Children's Clinic."The song was about caring for sick children at the camp where Weber worked as a nurse. She had little to no medicine available. But she had her poetry and her music - some of which her husband, managed to salvage by hiding the written verses in a garden shed after her death at Auschwitz in 1944."When I Was Lying Down" was among the songs he saved. For decades it was just lyrics on paper tucked away in storage, the song's melody unknown. But Italian musicologist and pianist Francesco Lotoro has devoted his life to unearthing thousands of songs and scores written during the Holocaust. Lotoro found the one person who remembered how it went: Aviva Bar-On, who, 70 years earlier, was Weber's patient as a 9-year-old girl.On Sunday, Bar-On performed the song from memory before an audience of … [Read more...] about Thousands of songs composed in concentration camps are finding new life